Eleider Alvarez aiming for fall return

Former light heavyweight titleholder Eleider Alvarez is looking to make his return this fall, following his first pro loss in February in his rematch with Sergey Kovalev.

ESPN reports that the 35-year-old Alvarez, a Colombian based in Montreal, has been in the mix for a fight with Gilberto Ramirez on Sept. 14 and one with Jesse Hart on Oct. 18, but neither of those is happening. Alvarez reportedly wouldn’t have been ready for the September date, and trainer Marc Ramsay didn’t want to split time between Alvarez and Artur Beterbiev, who headlines that Oct. 18 show against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a big 175-pound unification bout.

So Alvarez (24-1, 12 KO) is searching for a date and an opponent. Hart or Ramirez could still be in play, as neither of them have anything scheduled, but we’re probably looking at November here for Eleider’s return. And either of those would be good fights, for what it’s worth — all three guys are strong contenders at 175, where Top Rank has a firm grip on most of the best fighters in the division right now.